1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of land vehicles, more specifically in the field of cargo carrying attachments for such vehicles, and still more specifically in the field of detachable cargo carriers which function as land vehicles themselves. It is also in the fields of article carriers, and supports.
2. Description of the Related Art
Detachable cargo carriers of many kinds, and such carriers which are themselves vehicles, have been used for many years. An example of the former is a box, trunk or cooler fixed to the rear of a vehicle. Examples of the latter are a vehicle towed by another vehicle, and a wheelchair carried in a van.
More recently, with the advent of receiving hitches being installed below the rear bumpers of vehicles (typically pickup trucks) rectangular horizontal carriers and trays have been created with a hitch insert on the front side. When the hitch insert is inserted into the receiving hitch, a tray approximately bumper high is available upon which to load articles for transport. A variant of this device incorporates a folding ramp on another side of the tray, permitting a motorcycle, wheelchair, etc. to be rolled from ground level up onto the tray.
A drawback of these devices are that they are often heavy and cumbersome to install into the receiving hitch and so, once installed, they tend to be left in place as an extension of the rear of the vehicle even when not carrying anything. This poses problems with parking and other vehicle maneuvering. Another drawback is that, in the absence of a ramp, or when articles to be carried cannot be rolled up a ramp, they have to be lifted from the ground to the tray.